Phoebe Bridgers & Run the Jewels Are Top Winners at 2021 A2IM Libera Awards

Bridgers also performed “Kyoto” on the show, which aired on YouTube. Most of the performances were pre-taped, but Fantastic Negrito performed “Chocolate Samurai” live. Other performances were by Arlo Parks (“Hope”), Black Pumas (“Colors”), Mavis Staples (“Who Told You That”), Lido Pimienta (“Te Queria”), Lecrae (“Drown”), Yuna (“Don’t Blame It on Love”) and Stax Academy Rhythm Section (medley).

Staples received the independent icon award during the program. Staples, 81, fronted The Staple Singers, the famed gospel-turned-R&B family group, and has gone on to a significant solo career. Staples’ Grammy nominations span nearly the entire history of that awards show. She received her first, with The Staple Singers, in 1961 (the fourth year of the show) and her most recent this past year. The Staple Singers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (by Lauryn Hill) in 1999 and received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2005.

The founders and principals of Memphis-based Stax Records received a lifetime achievement award. The award was accepted by Al Bell, former co-owner of the legendary label; Jim Stewart, co-founder of the label; Doris Fredrick, daughter of the late Estelle Axton, the label’s other co-founder; and Deanie Parker, a former Stax executive who, in her acceptance remarks, said that the label’s success was especially noteworthy because it was “situated in the bigoted Deep South.”